How to Boil Water

Boiling water is a very common job, so learning how to boil water can help you anywhere. Are you cooking dinner? Find out when is the right time to poach eggs, or to see if salt can really help your dish. Are you having a picnic in the mountains? Discover why it takes so long to cook, and learn how to turn river water into safe drinking water. Read on for those and other interesting information.

Table of Contents

Boil water for cooking

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Choose a pot with a lid. The lid will help keep the heat inside, making the water boil faster. A large pot will take longer to boil, but the shape of the pot does not show a noticeable difference. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Use cold water. Hot water from a tap can be contaminated with lead from the pipes, so it is not recommended for drinking or cooking. ^{[2] X Research Source} So use cold water instead of hot water. Do not fill the pot with water – water that fills the pot when it boils can splash you, and you also need to leave room for food while cooking.

Don’t believe the myth: cold water doesn’t boil faster than hot water. ^{[3] X Research Source} Cold water is a safe option, but it will take a little longer to cook.

Add salt to taste (optional). Salt has almost no effect on boiling point, even if you add so much salt that it turns fresh water into seawater! ^{[4] X Research Source}^{[5] X Research Source <u>On Food and Cooking</u> by Harpd McGee, ISBN 0684800012} Salt is added just to give flavor to food – especially noodles, because The salt will follow the water to soak into the noodles. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

You may notice a bunch of bubbles when you add salt. It’s an interesting effect, but it doesn’t change the temperature. ^{[7] X Research Sources}
Add salt to the water when boiling eggs. If the eggshell is cracked, the salt will help the egg white to solidify and seal the crack. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

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Boil water on high heat. Put the pot on the stove and turn up the heat to high. Cover the pot to make the water boil faster.

Learn about the boiling stages. Most recipes call for bubbling or boiling water. You should be aware of these stages and add a few other less common options to find the right temperature: ^{[9] X Research Source}

Bubbles: Tiny bubbles appear at the bottom of the pot but have not yet emerged. The surface of the water trembled slightly. This phenomenon occurs at temperatures of 60–75ºC (140-170ºF), the right temperature for poaching eggs, fruit or fish.
Bubbles: Bubbles are emerging, but the water is mostly still. The water is now at a temperature of 75–90ºC (170–195ºF), suitable for stewing or braising meat.
Simmering Boil: Small and medium sized bubbles throughout the pot burst on top of the water. The temperature is now 90–100ºC (195–212ºF), which is a good time to steam the vegetables or melt the chocpate, whichever you prefer.
Fully Boiled: Steam and water flow are constantly moving when stirred. Now the water is at 100ºC (212ºF) – the highest temperature of water. You should cook the noodles at this temperature.

Put the food in the water. If you want to boil something, now is the time to put it in the water. Cold food will lower the water temperature, and may drop to the level of heat in the previous stage. That’s okay too; you just need to keep the heat high or medium until the temperature returns to the appropriate level.

Unless the recipe directs, you should not add food until the water is hot. Otherwise it will be difficult to keep track of the cooking time and there may be undesirable effects. For example, meat will become tough and the flavor will also become lighter if exposed to cold water at some point during the cooking process. ^{[10] X Research Source}

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Reduce fire. High heat will help the water quickly reach the boiling point. Once the desired temperature has been reached, you need to reduce the heat to medium (boil) or medium low (stew). Once the water has reached the boiling point, increasing the temperature will only cause the water to drain faster.

During the first few minutes, the pot should be checked from time to time to make sure the water temperature is stable at the desired stage.
When making soups or stews, keep the lids loose. Covering the lid will cause the water temperature to be too high to be unsuitable for these dishes.

Clean drinking water

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Boil water to kill bacteria and other pathogens. Almost all harmful microorganisms present in the water are killed when the water is heated. ^{[11] X Research Source} Boiling water will not remove most chemical contaminants. ^{[12] X Research Source}

If the water is cloudy, filter it first to remove any dirt.

Bring the water to a boil. It is not boiling, but temperature that kills microorganisms. However, without a thermometer, boiling is the only accurate way to tell how hot the water is. Wait until the water boils and boils thoroughly. At this temperature, all dangerous microorganisms die. ^{[13] X Research Source}^{[14] X Trusted Source World Health Organization Go to Source}

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Let it boil for 1-3 minutes (optional). More carefully, you should let the water boil for about 1 minute (Count slowly to 60). If you are above 2,000 m above sea level, you need to let the water boil for 3 minutes (Count slowly to 180). ^{[15] X Trusted Source Centers for Disease Contrp and Prevention Go to source}

If heated to a higher position, the water will boil at a lower temperature. Boiling water at low temperatures takes longer to kill microorganisms.

Cool and store the water in an airtight container. Boiled water is safe to drink even when cooled. You can store water in an airtight container. ^{[16] X Research Source}

The water will taste “pale” than usual because some of the air in the water has escaped. To improve the taste of water, you should use two containers of water to pour back and forth a few times. ^{[17] X Research Source} Air will enter as the water flows down.

Boil water in the microwave

Pour water into a microwave-safe glass or bowl. If you can’t find a container that says “microwave safe,” choose porcelain without metallic paint. To check if the container is microwave-safe, you can put the item (empty) in the microwave, next to a glass of water. Turn on the microwave for 1 minute. If the item heats up after a minute, it’s not safe to use in the microwave. ^{[19] X Research Source}

To be on the safer side, you should use a container with a scratch or dent (in scientific term called the center of vaporization) on the inside of the water container. This will help the water bubble up, reducing the risk of an explosion due to “superheating” (though unlikely). ^{[20] X Research Source}

Add a microwave-safe item to the water. This also helps to make the water bubble. Try using wooden spoons, chopsticks, ice cream sticks. If you don’t mind affecting the taste of the water, just a teaspoon of salt or sugar in the water will suffice. ^{[21] X Trusted Source US Food and Drug Administration Go to source}

Avoid using plastic objects as they can be too soft for bubbles to form on top.

Place the glass of water in the microwave. On most models of microwave ovens, the outer edge of the rotating dish usually heats up faster than the center. ^{[22] X Research Source}

Heat the water for short intervals, stirring occasionally. For maximum safety, you should see the recommended cooking times in your microwave’s instruction manual. If you don’t have the manual, try leaving it for 1 minute. After each pause, you should carefully stir the water up, then remove it to check the temperature. The water is usable when it has evaporated and is not so hot that it cannot be touched.

If the water is still cold after the first few minutes, increase the cooking time to 1.5-2 minutes. The total cooking time depends on the power of the microwave and the amount of water you want to boil.
Don’t wait for the water to “boil” in the microwave. The water in the oven still reaches a boiling point, but it’s not obvious.

Boil water at high altitude

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Understanding effects. At altitudes above sea level, the higher you go, the thinner the air. Thus, the air molecules that compress the water will be less, each water molecule will separate more easily and escape into the air. In other words, the temperature at which water is boiled will decrease. The water will boil faster, but the low boiling point will make it harder for you to cook the food.

You don’t have to worry about this effect unless you are at an altitude of 610 m or more.

Use more water for cooking. Liquids at higher altitudes will evaporate faster, so you should add more water to compensate for the evaporation. If you plan to cook food in water, you need to add more water. It takes longer to cook food, so more water evaporates than usual.

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Cook food for a longer time. To compensate for the low boiling point, you can cook food for longer. Here are a few simple rules for extra cooking time: ^{[23] X Research Source}

If the recipe takes less than 20 minutes at sea level, the extra cooking time is 1 minute for every 305 m above sea level.
If the recipe takes more than 20 minutes at sea level, the additional cooking time is 2 minutes for every 305 m above sea level.

Consider using a pressure cooker. At particularly high altitudes, cooking food in boiling water takes an unbelievably long time. You should use a pressure cooker instead. The pressure cooker has a tight-fitting lid to keep the water inside and can increase the pressure so that the water can reach a higher temperature. With a pressure cooker, you can apply recipes as you normally would at sea level.

Advice

If you want to boil something other than water, such as a sauce, you need to lower the heat when it’s boiling to avoid scorching the bottom of the pot.
Traditionally, people put the noodles in a large pot of boiling water, about 8.4–12.5 liters of water per kilogram of noodles. Recently some chefs started using smaller pots of water and even put noodles in while the water was still cold. ^{[24] X Research Source}^{[25] X Research Source} The second method is much faster.

Warning

Steam can cause more severe burns than boiling water due to its higher thermal energy.
Distilled water is more likely to become super hot in the microwave because it doesn’t contain impurities that help it bubble up. This phenomenon rarely happens, but it is best to use tap water.
The water boils and the steam rises hot enough to burn you. Use hand pads if necessary, and handle them with care.

Steps